This invention relates generally to flight preparation for piloting an aircraft. More particularly, it relates to apparatus and methods for automatic flight preparation, e.g., weight balance calculations, take-off distance, best rate-of-climb, fuel, time, distance required to climb, and other flight preparation operations.
Thorough flight preparation by a pilot is important for flight safety. For example, an aircraft may be unable to operate safely with both a full passenger load and a full fuel load due to excessive weight and/or improper balance. Also, an accurate determination of minimum take-off distance is critical to flight preparation, especially at smaller airports.
Today, flight preparation for piloting aircraft is a manual process. Currently, a pilot refers to a pilot operating handbook (POH), typically provided for each aircraft. In addition, each aircraft is typically provided with a set of charts so that a pilot may individually calculate each parameter necessary for safe operation of the aircraft. These parameters include, for example, weight and balance, take-off distance, best rate-of-climb, fuel, time and distance required to climb, and other flight preparation parameters.
For example, a pilot will calculate gross weight and refer to an aircraft""s POH and charts to calculate necessary distribution of fuel and passenger loads to ensure proper balance of an aircraft. Determination of other flight preparation parameters also requires calculation by a similar manual process of referring to the POH and charts.
Flight preparation is tedious and time consuming. For example, a full flight preparation requires simultaneous consideration of several parameters, e.g., gross weight, temperature, and simultaneous reference to several charts. Also, the manual nature of the current flight preparation process is prone to error, since simultaneous referencing of several charts is difficult.
Accordingly, many pilots do not conduct a full flight preparation. Instead, many pilot""s flight preparation parameters are estimated, based upon the sample calculations provided in the POH. For example, the pilot operation manual may provide flight preparation information for two different gross weights, e.g., 24,000 lbs. and 28,000 lbs., to indicate generally the flight performance characteristics of an aircraft. A pilot will then simply estimate flight preparation by extrapolating between the calculations provided, e.g., between 24,000 lbs and 28,000 lbs. For example, if a pilot is calculating a minimum take-off distance for an estimated gross weight of 26,000 lbs., then the pilot will use the distance half way between distance calculated at 24,000 and 28,000 lbs. as part of his flight preparation.
It is accordingly desirable to allow a pilot to easily calculate a full flight preparation and increase flight safety. This is achieved by providing apparatus and methods for automatically calculating a full flight preparation.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a method of determining a balance of an aircraft comprises: receiving a plurality of factors affecting the weight of an aircraft; determining automatically a gross weight for the aircraft based on the plurality of factors; receiving a datum indicating a center of lift for the aircraft; determining a plurality of moments based on the factors and the datum; and determining at least one center of gravity based on the plurality of moments and the gross weight.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, a method of determining a take-off distance for an aircraft comprises: determining automatically a gross weight for the aircraft; receiving a set of take-off distance data for the aircraft; receiving information indicating conditions affecting the take-off distance for the aircraft; and determining automatically a take-off distance for the aircraft based on the gross weight, conditions affecting take-off distance, and the set of take-off distance data.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, a method of determining a rate of climb for an aircraft comprises: determining automatically a gross weight for the aircraft; receiving a set of data indicating a rate-of-climb for the aircraft; receiving information indicating conditions affecting the rate-of-climb for the aircraft; and determining automatically a rate-of-climb for the aircraft based on the gross weight, conditions affecting the rate-of-climb, and the set of data indicating the rate-of-climb.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, a method of determining flight dynamics information comprises: determining automatically a gross weight for the aircraft; receiving at least one set of flight dynamics data for the aircraft; receiving information indicating conditions affecting the flight dynamics of the aircraft; and determining automatically at least one flight dynamics information for the aircraft based on the gross weight, conditions affecting the flight dynamics, and the set of flight dynamics data.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, a flight preparation method comprises: determining automatically a gross weight for an aircraft; determining automatically a balance for the aircraft based on the gross weight; determining automatically a takeoff distance for the aircraft based on the gross weight; determining automatically a best rate of climb for the aircraft based on the gross weight; and determining automatically a fuel, a time, and a distance to change to an altitude.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, an apparatus for determining a balance of an aircraft comprises: means for receiving a plurality of factors affecting the weight of an aircraft; means for determining automatically a gross weight for the aircraft based on the plurality of factors; means for receiving a datum indicating a center of lift for the aircraft; means for determining a plurality of moments based on the factors and the datum; means for determining at least one center of gravity based on the plurality of moments and the gross weight.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, an apparatus for determining a take-off distance for an aircraft comprises: means for determining automatically a gross weight for the aircraft; means for receiving a set of take-off distance data for the aircraft; means for receiving information indicating conditions affecting the take-off distance for the aircraft; and means for determining automatically a take-off distance for the aircraft based on the gross weight, conditions affecting take-off distance, and the set of take-off distance data.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, an apparatus for determining a rate of climb for an aircraft comprises: means for determining automatically a gross weight for the aircraft; means for receiving a set of data indicating a rate-of-climb for the aircraft; means for receiving information indicating conditions affecting the rate-of-climb for the aircraft; and means for determining automatically a rate-of-climb for the aircraft based on the gross weight, conditions affecting the rate-of-climb, and the set of data indicating the rate-of-climb.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, an apparatus for determining flight dynamics information comprises: means for determining automatically a gross weight for the aircraft; means for receiving at least one set of flight dynamics data for the aircraft; means for receiving information indicating conditions affecting the flight dynamics of the aircraft; and means for determining automatically at least one flight dynamics information for the aircraft based on the gross weight, conditions affecting the flight dynamics, and the set of flight dynamics data.
In accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention, a system for automated flight preparation comprises: a first module to determine automatically a gross weight for an aircraft; a second module to determine automatically a balance for the aircraft; a third module to determine automatically a take-off distance for the aircraft; a fourth module to determine a rate of climb for the aircraft; and a fifth module to determine at least one dynamics information for the aircraft.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.